The Prince of Warwood and the Fall of the King (Book 2)
Page 27
Finally, he said, “Come closer, boy.”
He shuffled awkwardly toward the man he feared above all others, fighting the urge to run from the room screaming, but when he thought of Mr. Minnows, his fear twisted into an intense hatred. With a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders and met William’s black, bottomless eyes.
William smiled. “My you’re an insolent one. If looks could kill, I think you’d have me hung, dismembered, and electrocuted to death simultaneously if that were possible.” He cackled ominously. Then, as though someone had flipped a light switch, his face went wildly dark. “Well, Prince Wells? Do it! If you think you’re man enough, draw your sword and strike me down.”
Driven by fear more than anything, he fumbled in his cloak for his sword, but before he could dislodge it from his belt, William LeMasters’ sword was at his neck, and he froze.
“Really, now! You’ll need to be quicker than that, Prince Wells.” The evil man smiled triumphantly down at him.
At that moment, Danson moaned, and William glanced over at his unconscious brother. In that briefest of moments, Xavier hurled a force at the dark man and sent him staggering backwards. Then, he quickly drew his sword and swung with all his might at William, but the man had quickly regained his balance and parried the attack with a dismissive laugh.
“My, my, my! Well done, sire. Fight dirty! It doesn’t matter how you win as long as you do! It’s a shame that I’ll eventually have to kill you. You would have made a nice addition to my army,” he taunted.
Then, he attacked, wielding his sword with great skill and expertise. It quickly became apparent to Xavier that he was in over his head. LeMasters was a master swordsman whereas he had a mere couple of months of training. What made him think he could do this? Fear swarmed through his body as he backpedaled and tried to keep himself from being disemboweled. But, the dark man was relentless and continued to barrel down on him, swinging his sword and slicing into his arm. He winced, but had no time to inspect the wound for LeMasters was attacking again. He lashed out desperately, but William simply batted his sword aside and lunged. If he hadn’t jumped to the side, he would have been impaled. Scared out of his mind, Xavier scrambled away from him and took stock of his situation. He was in trouble. No, not just trouble, he was in grave peril. This was going to end badly, very badly.
LeMasters advanced on him again, twirling his sword lazily and grinning sadistically. Suddenly, he charged at the boy. Xavier managed to raise his sword to deflect the attack, but the force behind the sword was too great, and his weapon clattered to the floor. LeMasters grabbed him, threw him down, and with a wicked smile, stepped on the boy’s neck, pinning him to the floor. Xavier clawed at foot holding him captive as panic crashed over him like a tidal wave.
“Stop squirming, boy,” LeMasters hissed and increased the pressure on the boy’s throat, cutting off his air supply. Xavier froze under this pressure, and William smiled. “Good boy.”
Then, with brutal patience, William impaled Xavier in the hip, sinking the blade deeper and deeper. Xavier’s screams only made his smile widen.
“That’s it, boy, scream! Scream for Daddy to come and save you,” he goaded, twisting the sword lodged in Xavier’s side.
Screaming louder than he thought possible, Xavier began to cry. He was going to die! He was going to die, and his father was thousands of miles away and couldn’t do a thing to save him. He was going to die, and the last thing he’d see in this world was the sneering, smug face of William LeMasters.
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